Two ‘villains’ get their say

In a thoughtful moment early in “Gertrude and Claudius,” making its world premiere at Orlando Shakes, young Gertrude asks, “If a flower can grow through rock, is it possible for love to grow through duty?”

The answer is apparently not, at least according to this atmospheric but slow-toget-started play that examines the backgrounds of two of Shakespeare’s most notorious characters.

Pop culture likes to dig into character’s back stories. The musical “Wicked,” detailing the pre-Dorothy life of the Wicked Witch of West, is an enduring Broadway hit. “Star Wars” devoted not one, but three movies, to the early days of Darth Vader — then more recently introduced us to preHarrison Ford Han Solo.

Somehow, Gertrude and Claudius — the mother and uncle of Shakespeare’s Hamlet — seem unlikely subjects for such exploration. But novelist John Updike did just that when he wrote his 2000 novel named for its protagonists.

Jump ahead nearly 20 years and, commissioned by the Shakes, playwright Mark St. Germain has adapted Updike’s novel for the stage. St. Germain is a master at bringing to life strong, not necessarily romantic, couplings: the KKK leader and civil-rights activist in “The Best of Enemies,” the pupil with Asperger’s and his prickly instructor in “Dancing Lessons,” psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and faith-based writer C.S. Lewis in “Freud’s Last Session.” All are significant and superlative modern plays.

But a problem with his latest is that, despite the title, there’s no couples dynamic through much of the first act. Director Jim Helsinger is hampered by the bulletpoint plotting that has to race through multiple years: Teen Gertrude is promised in marriage to Amleth by her father, the king. His wayward brother, Claudius, brings a gift to the wedding and then takes off. The two communicate by letters until he returns much later — culminating in an awkward scene involving falcons that apparently dazzled book readers but comes up short on stage.

Things improve in the second act, which finally sees Shakespearean-style plotting: Lies, adultery, treachery. But even then, the whole enterprise could be bigger and bolder with more stirring speeches and colorful language. In other words, more like Shakespeare.

This is not to slight the actors, who give their characters layered shadings: Paige Lindsey White’s Gertrude and Gene Gillette’s Claudius both have keen moments of doubt, despair, anger and passion. Kenny Babel’s Amleth seems so human, both in his shortcomings and eagerness to make up for them, that it’s hard to root against him in favor of the forbidden lovers.

For those seeing the Shakes’ concurrent production of “Hamlet,” it is enjoyable to watch the same actors play the same roles in both shows. And Jim Hunter’s set and Bert Scott’s lighting are just as magnificent here as in “Hamlet.”

Faithful to Updike’s novel, the end of “Gertrude and Claudius” overlaps with the opening of “Hamlet” — a structural decision that seems unnecessary, but allows an innocent question by Gertrude to linger in the memory: “Do you prefer stories that end in tragedy?”